Through the Computer Screen
by prncesscandy
Summary: Reyna is an overachiever who studies in England. Annabeth is a student living in her best friend's house. When they meet through a pen pal project in high school, everything changes.
1. A Great Start

This is pretty much a very very very gay fic in which Piper's a babe and I pick on Leo a lot.  
Alright so this is an au in which literally no one is a cishet (except for leo bc he sucks) so I just wanted to add that  
-Piper is a demigirl and preferes they/them she/her pronouns  
-Rachel is agender and prefers they/them pronouns  
-Clarisse is genderfluid and sometimes goes by clark and prefers they/them she/her he/him it pronouns  
-Octavian is also genderfluid and prefers they/them xe/xer it pronouns

Warning: This chapter contains mentions of school and swearing.

Reyna is a fun sucker mostly.

A preppy fun sucker.

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It was a cold and unpleasant morning in Reading. Reyna's clothes stuck to her skin uncomfortably due to the unexpected rain she had faced when leaving her house that morning. This only made Mr. Taylor's lecture harder to pay attention to, she realized as she shifted in her seat. World History was a refreshing subject, but the man spoke in such a dull tone that any interest that she may have had dripped away.

Reyna turned her head to see her friend Piper scribbling something down on their worn out notebook. She knew they weren't notes; they were most probably doodling- a nasty habit of theirs- and would ask for her help to study for the next test, since they were never paying attention. Reyna couldn't say that she was gripped by whatever it was her teacher was saying. Something about America's great depression, she guessed.

She spotted Jason Grace from the corner of her eye, sitting up so straight it seemed that he had swallowed a broom, staring at the teacher and undoubtedly paying attention. He was perfect, right from the way his uniform shirt was always buttoned up to the top, to how he asked the right questions during class, to the fact that he was the president of the student council.

Okay, so Reyna was the president of the student council too, but she still wasn't like him, Jason with his perfectly white smile, Jason with the perfectly outstanding grades, Jason who always seemed to be perfectly one step ahead of her, no matter how hard she worked. It was frustrating to think about it, so she pushed that matter out of her thoughts and tried to concentrate on the class. She spent a good five minutes listening to explain what the stock market was before he looked at the clock on his wrist and made a face.

"I didn't realize it was this late. Before you leave, I have an annoucement to make." He stated. "Remember the pen pal project you were going to organize next semester?" There was a collective yes from the students. "Well, Miss. Baelor asked me to inform you that sadly we won't be able to go through with that."

It took the teacher a few moments to get the class to calm down and to get a paper ball someone- Leo Valdez, Reyna thought- had thrown into his hair. "I understand that you're upset, but there's nothing that we can do about it. The school we usually do this project with has been going through some economical struggles and they simply cannot afford to go through with it. At least not this year."

"This is bullshit!" Piper said, ignoring the fact that they were in the middle of a classroom. Lucky for them they weren't the only ones voicing their anger towards that whole situation. And with good reason, Reyna believed. This pen pal business was going to be about a third of their french grade, and since all they had to do was chat with some random french person a few times and present a small paper, it was a grade saver.

After assuring that there was nothing to be done several times, everyone to calm back down a bit, and that would have been the end of it if Jason Grace hadn't put his hand up.

"Excuse me, sir?"

_Oh, this should be good, _Reyna thought.

"Yes, Grace, what is it?"

"Sir, it's just that I think I know how this could work." _Of course you do._

"Oh?" The teacher looked as if he was expecting a prank, but hell would freeze over before something like that came out of Jason.

"You see, I have a sister that lives in America." He explained. "She goes to Goode Highschool, a public school in New York."

"And what does this have to do with us not having french pen pals?" Asked Leo, turning around so he was facing Jason.

"Well, I know it's not the same thing, but everyone's pretty upset about not doing this whole thing. Maybe we could speak in french- or change the subject to english rather than french. I'm sure her school would allow it." He replied, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. He was getting nervous, she could tell.

"So you're saying we should have american pen pals?" Mr. Taylor raised an eyebrow in disbelief. Jason was lost.

"I- well, it was just a suggestion, I thought we wouldn't want to give up this chance. I understand if you don't want to go through with it, in fact-"

She didn't get a chance to hear what it was that her classmate was going to say, as the bell rang and all the students started packing up, her included. She found it would be wise to think about whatever it was that the french teacher would come up with to make up for the loss of the pen pal project, but she let herself have a moment to look at Jason's face. The next time she would have a chance to steal a glance at his disppointed expression was probably not in the near future.

She was just about to get up when Mr. Taylor raised a hand and murmured "Wait, wait.."

_No, it can't be, it isn't possible, he can't really get away with this, no._

"I'm not telling you to get your hopes up," he started "but this clash of cultures... well, it could work."

There was a roar of cheers from the class. Jason was grinning like a fool.

"Now, I'm not saying it'll happen. I'm just saying that if you talk about this with Miss Yara, your english teacher, and she likes the idea, maybe the school could see this project through." The teacher turned to Jason. "Grace, can I trust you to do this?"

The student council president nodded and politely replied, adding how grateful he was for the opportunity. Reyna could gag.

When the class was finally excused, Leo had the wonderful idea to start chanting Jason's name. The rest of the stundents soon followed. In the middle of the crowd, she could spot Piper looking at her with a sympathetic look. She didn't know if she had expected things to turn out different.


	2. Two Best Friends

Warning: this chapter includes mention of food, family, school, swearing and (kinda) death.

These two are so close they're almost the same person.

Reyna and Piper's friendship is very important to me.

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Reyna was lying on Piper's couch when she heard her turn the shower water off. "Finally" she muttered. She had been watching a Teen Mom marathon for longer than she had liked, and that did little to get her mind from how angry she was.

Piper's mum was a journalist for some fashion magazine or the other, and she was always away, which lead to Piper hosting the most amazing sleepovers every week or so. Sure, the only one who actually attended them was Reyna, but they had fun nontheless. Besides, neither of them had friends they were so close to as each other, so they prefered it this way.

Piper had gone to football practice while Reyna had sat on the bleachers and pretended to read a copy of "The Roman Citizen" she had picked up from the library, but couldn't tear her mind away from Jason Grace. She had been so lost in thought she hand't realized she had been crushing her bookmarker between her fingers so strongly it hurt. It had been two hours since then, and still she could hardly think about anything else.

At last her friend walked into the bedroom and dropped herself on the bed after handing Reyna a bowl of snacks, groaning loudly as she did.

"I can't feel my calves so much I don't even think I have them anymore." Piper complained, extending her arms in front of her. "Can you check if my calves are still there?"

Reyna lifted the fabric of her friend's pajama pants to glance at her leg. "I can confirm your calves are still here."

"Ugh." Piper dragged themselves across the bed on their elbows in order to face the tv. "Gross. Isn't there anything else on?"

"Masterchef, some Batman movie and a few documentaries." She informed, handing Piper the remote. "Don't you have anything good taped?"

"Let me check." As she flipped through recordings of several MTV shows, Reyna made the mistake of sighing. The action quickly earned her an eye roll. "You're not telling me you're still upset about that."

She would have felt embarrased being asked that question if the interrogator hadn't been Piper. Her rivalry with Jason was a regular subject in their conversations. "So what if I am?"

"Jesus, just let it go. He's not my favourite person either, but at least we get to go through with this pen pal thing. A third of our english grade done, just like that. I can't exactly call him a monster."

"It was very good of him." Reyna replied, putting a jellybean in her mouth. "Just like everything else he does. How stressing it must be to be so damn great all the time." She could still recall how the class had pushed Miss Yara to say yes when Jason introduced his idea, and how he beamed when she said yes. "You know the point of being head of the student council isn't to make people happy. It's to make things functional."

"And that's why you're there." Piper replied, still trying to find a suitable program for the to watch. "To make people do what they're supposed to do. That's like, your special talent."

"Well when was the last time people started chanting my name for remind them of the date of the teacher parent meeting?" She held up her hand and examined her nails. Her nail polish was coming off, she had to remember to reapply it once she got home. Piper wouldn't have any nail polish laying around, she was sure. "You know, I'm actually glad he was able to fix this whole situation. In fact, I'm glad that I won't have to write another damned book report next semester. I'm just mad I didn't think of it first."

She could her Piper giggle. "Reyna, you couldn't have thought of it first. You don't have a sister in a highschool in America. There was nothing you could do about it."

"Exactly!" She replied, with a mouth full of sweets. "There was nothing I could do about it. Just like there was nothing I could have done when the zoo field trip was cancelled. But somehow Jason had acquaintances in another zoo, and we ended up going." She smacked a pillow. "Is that guy even human?"

"Probably not." Her friend tapped her on the shoulder. "Dead Poets Society. Feel like it?"

"No. But put it on anyways. I don't want to watch another shitty reality show again."


	3. Cold Friendships

Warning: This chapter contains swearing, mentions of food, family, school and smoking.

I feel like I can't explain Drew/Thalia it doesn't need to be explained it just is.

Also Percy and Annabeth as friends I haven't read about that in forever.

(Thalia's the main babe here)

xxxxxx

"Percy! Stop it!"

Her yelling only got him to turn around and give her a grin, pieces of chips stuck to the skin around his mouth. She shoved his shoulder.

"You're gross." She commented before taking a few ham flavoured chips from the bag they were sharing. Though sharing was an overstatement, seeing as Percy was doing his best to eat as much as he could. She couldn't figure out if it was because he was hungry or if he was just in the mood to annoy her.

The weather was a bit cold, she thought as a shiver ran along her spine, but not cold enough to make them move. They had planned to meet up with Thalia and her girlfriend there, at the outdoor table spot, as it was usually deserted on chilly days like this, and she enjoyed the time they had together to try and relax for a bit. Sometimes Thalia's cousin, Nico, would join them, but seeing as he wasn't very social it didn't happen often.

So she and Percy were left to entertain themselves, and they played a few rounds of truth or dare until realizing there wasn't much to find out and neither of them were in the mood for dares and deciding to eat instead.

When she stopped feeling her fingertips she considered texting her friend to ask her about her delay, but she gave up the idea as soon as she smelled the cigarette smoke in the air.

"Sorry." Thalia hissed, sitting right in front of her. "We got held back at pe." Drew sat right beside

her, looking so perfect Annabeth would hve guessed she had gotten pulled from a fashion shoot rather than a public school gym.

They were a weird pair, those two. Thalia with her black leather jacket that didn't quite fit her, her piercings and combat boots and tough attitude, Drew with her high heels and long hair, french perfume and even tougher attitude. Yet, they were as good of a couple as Annabeth had ever seen, at least by teenager standards.

"It's freezing and I'm starving." Drew ran her hands up and down her jacket covered arms. "Whar do you have?"

In response Percy opened his backpack's zipper and pulled out a plastic bag containing tuesday's special at Harley's, the local diner. They weren't supposed to bring outside food to school, of course, so they always made their best efforts not to get caught.

It would be very much easier, she comteplated, to drop that habit of theirs and start eating school lunches in the cafeteria, but over the time they had developed a routine: one or two of them would sneak out to buy lunch and sneak back in without getting caught, while the others would try to find a lunch spot- they'd usually go to where they were at the moment, the outdoor tables, but when the weather was decent they could struggle with finding a seat. All of this wasn't necessary, but Thalia wouldn't be happy to be forced to eat somewhere where she couldn't smoke in.

Even now, as she sipped on her diet soda she balanced a cigarette on her right hand. Annabeth had tried to get her to quit a few times, but all she had gotten were breaths of smoke in her face.

"That's right!" Her friend said suddenly, interrupting Percy's impression of his english teacher and spilling a bit of her drink on her chin. Drew chuckled as she handed her girlfriend a tissue. "I didn't tell you two."

"What?" She questioned, taking a sip from her own soda.

"Jason." Thalia wiped her chin. "My brother."

"What about him?" Percy asked, shrugging.

"He decided- him and his fancy school- that we should be involved in a pen pal project."

"We?" She repeated. "We as in our school?"

The girl shook her head. "We as in our school and his. We should have a pen pal project."

Percy seemed confused. "I thought your brother lived in England."

"He does." Drew confirmed.

"Someone had the brilliant idea to make this an actual thing." She snorted. "We'll share our cultures, he said. He's amazing, I'll tell you that much." Thalia took another sip as she muttered something under her breath.

Annabeth tried to recall what she knew about Jason. He lived in England, she was sure of that, but Thalia had mentioned he had been born in America. She'd seen some picures he put on the internet once in a while, and if she didn't know better she would think the blue eyes were the only thing the Grace sibilings had in common.

"But you forgot the best part." Drew grinned. "If this actually goes through, both the 10th and 11th grade will have about a good 30% of their grades in the bag." She sighed. "And here I was worried about poetry comprehension."

"Shit." Percy raised his eyebrows. "You serious?"

"I hope I am." The girl replied, flipping the hair off her shoulder.

"You're cool with this though, right?" Annabeth asked, tuning towards Thalia.

She simply shrugeed. "I don't care much about it. And every second I spend not studying rhyme schemes is a second well spent."


	4. Harder Than Expected

Warning: This chapter contains mentions of family and food.

Damn Reyna is a nerd I love her

Piper is such a babe Piper is the babe we all need a little more Piper in our lives

Aaaand I hate Leo a lot can you tell

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Reyna was nervously chewing the inside of her cheek as she guided her fingers across the ipad's keyboard, trying to figure out what to say. She had started writing some good twenty minutes ago, typing quickly, until Piper pointed out it sounded too formal, causing her to delete everything and start from scratch.

Since then she had tipped a number of greetings, but had deleted them right after.

"Jesus, Reyna, you're writing an email, not an essay." She felt her friend's hand shove her shoulder, causing her to fall on the bed.

She didn't try to get up, settling for grunting instead. It would be much, much easier if she really were writing an essay. All she knew about her new pen pal was her name, age and grade. What on earth was she going to make out of that?

"If you're not going to write anything, I'm going to instead." Piper assured, throwing a pillow at Reyna to get her point wrong. The girl threw it back before sitting up.

After a few seconds Piper had already logged on to her account, writing so fast she might as well be texting a friend.

"How do you do it?" Reyna sighed.

"Do what? Socialize?" They replied in a mocking tone.

"Because socializing is spending ten minutes in the girls' bathroom hiding from Leo Valdez." She pointed out, recalling thursday's incident.

Piper made a face. "That guy's seriously gross. I don't even understand why Jason hangs out with him so much."

"Maybe your boyfriend and Leo Valdez are secretly dating."

"Leo can take him, I don't want him."

Reyna chuckled. Jason's crush was obvious to absolutely everyone, but he seemed to be oblivious to the fact that it wasn't mutual. Piper made the most of it, though, not bothering to deny it whenever he offered her a candy bar or ice cream.

"No, but how do you do that?" Reyna pointed at her friends text. "You don't know anything about Thalia. Well, except for the fact that she's your boyfriend's sister."

"It's really not that hard." She replied. "Besides, I do know something about Thalia."

"Oh?"

"Jason told me." They admited. "I just happen to know that she smokes, she wears a ton of makeup and she likes surfing. Oh, and she's gay."

"And when exactly did he tell you this?" Reyna picked up the remote and switched the channel just as some crappy reality show was about to start.

"Remember that one time you got sick and I had no one to pair up with for the river assignment?"

"Oh, the geography one?" She didn't remember the assignment exactly, but she did remember vomiting all over her sister's hair.

"Well, he asked me if I wanted to pair up with him, and since I didn't know much about rivers, I said yes. He told me about Thalia when we were putting the powerpoint together."

"So you went on a date?" Reyna flipped between two channels, not being able to decide if she'd rather watch a docummentary about sharks or a reality show about ghosts.

She could almost hear Piper rolling her eyes. "It was very romantic and sexual. Are you jealous?"

"Obviously." She smirked. "I'm just not sure which one I'm jealous of. I don't know if I'd rather go on a date with Golden Boy or your Snorring Snot Moster self."

"Don't you just love friendship?" Piper stopped talking while she sent her email. "There. Done." She shoved the ipad onto Reyna's lap. "Your turn."

She took the device reluctantly, sighing as she logged off her friend's account.

"Stop sounding like you're about to die. It's just an email." Piper afirmed, slapping their friend on her shoulder.

And yet, five minutes later there she was, looking at the blank screen trying to get some sort of idea.

"Alright," Piper said, getting up. "I'm too hungry for this, I'm getting ice cream." She opened the door, but before heading out, addded "Just try to think of it like an assignment. A school project."

Piper was right, she realized. No matter who it was sitting behind the screen an ocean away or how Reyna felt about it, it was a school project. 30% was a big number.

My name is Reyna, she began.


	5. Beauty and Indecision

Warning: This chapter contains mentions of school.

Oh man anti-leyna mentioned this fic in a fic rec i am so gone bye world

Anyhow i love Drew wayyy too much Drew ftw

I can't wait for actual reynabeth interaction and i'm trying to force myself to write that but ? it will come soon though don't worry

also thalia/drew ftw

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This wasn't the first time Annabeth noticed the computers in the computer lab were covered with a thick layer of dust. She had noticed that the week before. And the week before that. God, informatics class was so boring.

Every week they were forced to sit in a classroom for two hours doing shit all. Well, truth be told, they were handed assignments, but they were silly things like "type the following text into word, change the type of letter to times new roman and put it all in red.". It got even worse once Drew found a website that had all the assignments available for download (it turned out the school hadn't changed them in a while).

It was a good thing their teacher didn't care much about the class either; she let them do whatever they wanted as long as they didn't make too much noise. Most students chose talking or gossiping about people's facebook pictures, but Drew took it a step further, as she was currently painting her nails a pretty shade of blue.

"It's not pretty to stare, Annie." She stated, not even bothering to raise her head. Annabeth swore she had a sixth sense or something

.

"Sorry." She apologized. "Everything's just so dull around here. The most interesting thing I can do is watch try to pick her teeth discreetly."

Drew scrunched up her face. "Gross." She dipped her brush in her nail polish bottle and painted another glossy nail. "If you're that bored you could let me give you a mani, you know."

She shook her head. "I'd just mess them up before they got a chance to dry." She took a glance at her short and unpainted nails. She worked with her fingers so much that last time she had worn nail polish it had chipped within a few hours. Then again, maybe she shouldn't have been making her bed on the same day she painted her nails.

The other girl sighed. "If you say so. This colour would look great on you."

"Looks better on you. I'd probably go for something a little darker."

Drew tilted her head towards the small makeup pouch sitting on the desk. "There's some black stuff there. It's Thalia's, but I'm pretty sure she wouldn't mind."

Of course she would be carrying her girlfriend's stuff. The two of them were like one person in separate bodies, she was sure.

After declining Drew's offer, Annabeth was left, yet again, with nothing to do, and ended up doing what she did every damned class: deleting old emails.

After logging on, she noticed a couple of new emails. Some facebook friend's birthday, a chain email from a young cousin, the usual. But taking a second look, she noticed something from a person she'd never heard about before.

"Drew," She called. "do you know 'reynaa-ramireza'?"

"That sounds like a clothing line."

"And yet it's an email address."

"Really?" Annabeth felt her friend lean over and put her head on her shoulder. "Hm. Never heard of her."

The blonde reluctantly clicked the link, weirdly named "Introduction", hoping it wasn't some sort of virus.

"'My name is Reyna.'" Drew read. "'I am sixteen turning seventeen in October." The hell is this?"

Annabeth slapped her forehead with her hand. "The penpal project! I completely forgot! I wanted to send an introductory email but the school website was down. I couldn't get their email."

"This sounds like something you'd read on a foreign language test." The girl commented. "Je m'appelle Reyna, je suis seize-"

She silenced Drew by elbowing her lightly. "Don't be mean. I actually had no idea what to write on my introductory email."

"I wasn't being mean." Annabeth could almost hear the pout in her voice.

She rolled her eyes. "Have you emailed your penpal yet?"

"Hm, no. I kinda accidentally on purpose forgot about it. We can't all be perfect." Her friend finally lifted herself and sat up straight on her chair, checking her nails for any mistakes.

Drew was one to talk about not being perfect.

After reading the whole email, Annabeth wasn't sure what to think. She had planned on asking some questions to break the ice, but this Reyna girl had answered everything she could've thought of before her even thinking about it. "My favourite colour is purple", "I enjoy reading", "I hope we can forge a friendship of sorts.". What in the hell was that supposed to mean?

Yet, slowly, very slowly, Annabeth managed to come up with an adequate reply. She had even gotten Drew's approval, which was a hard thing to do. Still, before allowing her to send the email, her friend wrote "Add me on facebook: Annabeth Chase. We can talk more often that way.".

"Are you sure that's a good idea? It sounds too...straightforward." She commented.

"It sounds like straightforward is exactly what this girl is into." Drew replied.

A fair point, she considered, before hitting the send button.


	6. Not That Hard

Warning: This chapter contains mentions of family, food and school.

Wow. Annabeth and Reyna are finally talking to each other. I couldn't wait any longer I had to write this

Also if you're wondering yes Annabeth is living with Percy + Sally.

Should I explain the reason behind this now? No.

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She was sure she had reminded Percy that the room was getting smelly; it was obviously coming from the laundry basket, and emptying it was his job, even though he kept forgetting it. It wasn't anything she couldn't handle, and she didn't feel like getting up anyways.

Her heart was thumping loudly in her chest. Reyna had replied to her email, saying that she was pleased to meet her, and that she agreed with the sharing of facebooks. Only a few hours after that, when Annabeth got home, did she receive the friend request the girl had sent her.

She had a pretty profile picture. She had dark skin, hair and eyes, she could tell, and she was wearing a blue jacket in the picture. She was also looking away, so she figured another person had taken it.

Annabeth's own profile picture was a selfie Percy had urged her to take when they all had dinner at their house; Percy and Thalia had both stuck their tongues out, Nico faced the camera so seriously it looked funny, and Drew and herself wore matching smiles. It had been a fun night.

Once she noticed Reyna was online, her hand quickly moved to the keyboard. However, she thought before actually opening up a chat window. She looked up the time difference between America and England. According to the internet, it was only 10pm there. Still, she needed a few more minutes considering if it was wise to message her. She didn't know much about the girl, except that she was very uptight. Would she get mad if Annabeth messaged her at night?

Then again, if she didn't message her at that moment she might never get a chance to message her again. Or worst, she would have to have a conversation with her pen pal with Percy in the room. That was basically asking for disaster.

She typed a quick greeting and pressed enter even quicker. If she waited any longer she'd probably lose her bravery. She almost let out a squeak when she saw Reyna was typing. Reyna was typing!

Reyna Arellano

Hello

How are you?

She silently thanked the girl for asking that- she had no idea how to keep the conversation going after the greetings.

Annabeth Chase

I'm good

a little hungry, but I'm good

How was your day?

After hitting the send button, she realized her mistake. "How was your day" would have been an appropriate question if she were talking to Thalia, but she barely knew Reyna. It was too personal. It was going to creep her out. She bit her thumb nervously as her pen pal responded.

Reyna Arellano

I had a history test- it went well, actually.

I got rained on

And my friend Piper said they wanted me to tell you they said "hi".

Annabeth sighed with relief.

Annabeth Chase

I'm going to have a math test tomorrow

Reyna Arellano

Shouldn't you be studying?

Annabeth Chase

I already did. I don't feel good if I study too much for a test, you know?

Reyna Arellano

Not really

I always try to study as much as I can until the last minute haha

Annabeth Chase

I still get nervous and stuff but I just don't like studying the day before the test

I'm still going to study a bit though, but I'm going to study anatomy.

Reyna Arellano

I've always wanted to have anatomy, but I'm more into history and languages and such, so I don't have it.

Annabeth Chase

Neither do I! I want to be an architect, so I take math, geometry, art classes and stuff like that

I'm only studying anatomy with my friend, he has a test on wednesday and he doesn't really care for studying unless i make him study

Reyna Arellano

My friend Piper and I did something like that one time- she wanted me to help her with her knowledge of the Roman Empire for a test- but we ended up watching a movie instead.

Annabeth Chase

Man Percy would probably do that if I gave him the chance to

He says I should be softer with him

The nerve

Reyna Arellano

How outrageous

Annabeth Chase

He's the dude in my profile pic

The one with the tongue out and the spaghetti on his cheek

Reyna Arellano

Is he the one taking the picture?

Annabeth Chase

No, I took the picture, but you can't see my arm because Nico's in front of it

He's the little emo one

Did you take your own profile pic btw? Because if you did you deserve a selfie award or something

Reyna Arellano

Oh I see

No, I didn't. That was Piper. They took it when we were watching Game of Thrones. You can't see it in the picture, but I have a mouthful of crisps

I mean chips

Annabeth Chase

Right, chips there are fries

Reyna Arellano

And candy are sweets.

She was pleased with the way the conversation was going. The girl didn't seem half as severe as she did in her emails. However, when she noticed she had no reply to Reyna's last message, she desperately thought of something to say before she decided she was too boring to talk to. She didn't have to, in the end, as the girl added.

Reyna Arellano

I actually have a picture of Piper here- it's sort of a silly picture, don't pay too much mind to it.

Annabeth clicked the link Reyna had sent, and found herself looking at a picture of two people. One of them was quite obviously Piper. They were very beautiful, even with their cheeks puffed up to make a face for the camera. Reyna, on the other hand, was laughing, her face scrunched up. She found herself giggling.

Annabeth Chase

That might just have been the greatest thing I have seen today. thank you

Reyna Arellano

It was Piper's idea to make weird faces, but i took one look at hers and burst out laughing

Annabeth Chase

You and Piper sound like really close friends

Reyna Arellano

I've known them for about seven years, so yeah, you could say that

Annabeth Chase

That is 2 years more than Percy and I have know each other. you have earned my respect

Reyna Arellano

Wow thanks, Annabeth

As much as I want this conversation to continue, I have to go take a shower before my sister takes control over the bathroom.

I enjoyed talking to you- I hope we can do this again.

Annabeth Chase

Oh man, me too

Good night Reyna

And have a nice shower

Reyna Arellano

Bye

As she watched the small green ball next to Reyna's name disappear, she slowly realized what it was she had said. "Have a nice shower". She was such a fool! She might was well be straight up sexting.

It was nothing, she told herself. She won't notice it. Or maybe she won't make a big deal about it. The important thing was that she had done it, she had actually started a conversation with her pen pal, and it hadn't been too horrible. She had probably been the first student to start communicating with their pen pal in all of her school.

There was a loud bang which signaled Percy had just gotten home from swim practice. She realized with a shock she didn't know who his pen pal was yet. But that was for another time.

"Perseus Jackson!" She called, closing her laptop and setting it aside. "Get your butt over here, you have a test to prepare for!"


	7. Witchcraft

Warning: This chapter contains swearing, mentions of food, school, dogs and family.

Okay so I'm not so sure about this chapter bc I started writing it at like 1am so I just feel like it's not as good? idk

Anyhow Hazel! wow

I just wanted to write abt awkward babes so I did and yeah

xxxxxx

It was one of those rare occasions in which Piper's mother was actually at home. She was a former model, now working with a cosmetics line, and the definition of a business woman. She was travelling from place to place so much that sometimes Piper didn't know what continent their mum was in.

It wasn't that big of a deal anymore. Piper could handle herself for a few weeks. Besides, if there were any emergencies she could always call her dad. Or better, his assistant.

Anyhow, there she was, moving from one side to another in their kitchen, preparing her child's first homemade dinner in three weeks. She was going on about some annoying coworker she had to deal with while sprinkling salt on a pan.

"I swear to you, she never shuts up. It's unbelievable. 'Aphrodite, are you sure that's the right date? Hm? Really?'" Aphrodite rolled her eyes. "I hate that woman."

"Last time you spoke like this about a coworker you got him fired." Piper pointed out, chewing a piece of a carrot. When was the last time they had eaten something healthy?

"I got him fired because he was threatening Tiffany. I also kicked him, but that's a whole other story." She giggled, like it was no big deal. Maybe she wasn't around a lot, but their mum was decent enough.

"Shit." Aphrodite cursed, picking up a small glass jar up and taking a look at what was in it. "Piper, honey, didn't you buy any salt?"

She shook her head. "Only table salt. I haven't been cooking much."

"So you've been living of junk food?"

Piper shrugged. "More or less."

Their mother put the jar back in its place with a sigh. "I suppose that's my fault. But we still have to eat tonight. Can you be a dear and ask the neighbour to give us some salt?"

"Mum." She jumped off the counter she was sitting on. "Are you talking about Hecate? That lady likes you, not me. Last time I was over there she wouldn't let me leave until she read my palm. "

"She does that with everyone. Besides, I'm not about to go talk to her in this state." She gestured to herself, as if to imply she had just rolled out of bed- sure, she had gotten out of a flight a few hours ago, but she still looked as impeccable as always; if she took off her apron, Piper was sure she could have a photo shoot right there.

They were, however, a wonderful child, so they dragged themselves out the door and across the hallway to face Miss Hecate's apartment door.

Miss Hecate was a witch. At least she claimed to be. All day long she'd have middle aged housewives coming in and out of her house, begging to have their fortunes read. The woman was strange, that was sure, but she was smart. She had managed to make a business out of her "powers", and according to Piper's mother, she made a respectable amount of money from it. It took a few seconds for Piper to remember what she was actually there to do, until she knocked on the witch's door.

The person who opened it was definitely not a witch. They were short, shorter than her, which was hard, with dark skin and curly hair that fell on their shoulders. They wore a dark grey uniform that she was sure wasn't designed to flatter anyone. "Can I help you?"

"Uh, I'm looking for Miss Hecate?" Piper balanced themselves on their feet. "You don't look like Miss Hecate."

The person looked puzzled, like they weren't sure if that had been a joke or an attempt at teasing. "Well, she's not available at the moment. I'm her niece, Hazel."

"Wait, what?" Miss Hecate always seemed like the type of person that didn't have a family, so the information took a few seconds to settle in. Then, it hit her. "Get out of here- you're Jason's cousin!"

Hazel lifted her eyebrow "How do you know that?"

"I go to school with that guy, he told me who his aunt was a while ago." She chuckled. "Shit , I keep running into you Graces."

"I'm- I'm not a Grace, actually." She said quietly. "Um, but what was it that you wanted?"

Piper snapped their fingers. "Right! Salt. Sea salt. We ran out. Could you borrow us some?"

Hazel seemed a bit relieved. What on earth did she think they wanted? "Uh, sure. I mean, I don't know where it is exactly, but Hecate should have it."

"Try checking in the kitchen."

"I was going to." She turned around like she was going to leave, but then turned back around. "Could you help me? It's just I- I don't want to leave you waiting or anything."

Actually going into Hecate's apartment was not exactly something that she wanted to do, but she wasn't about to say that. "Sure." She replied, shrugging.

The house smelled like incense and cats, which was a complete mystery seeing as the only animal Piper spotted was a dog sleeping on top of a bean bag. Other than the occasional crystal ball resting on a shelf, it wasn't too freaky.

As it turned out the salt wasn't in the kitchen- Hecate used it for some kind of purification spell, according to her niece-, so the two of them turned to opening every drawer they could find in hope that eventually they found the damn salt.

At one point the silence got too awkward for her. "So, Hazel" Piper started, pulling a handle. "Why have I never seen you before?"

"I don't live around here." She informed. "Well, didn't. I moved in last wednesday."

"Wh- what school do you go to?" They were about to enquire why it was that Hazel moved, but they figured if she wanted them to know, they'd have told them.

"Jupiter Academy. I'm in grade 10."

"Never heard of it."

"It's not far from here. And the people are nice." She stated, pausing to cough when she picked up a specially dusty box.

"Found a boyfriend yet?"

In response to that, Hazel made a noise, a mix of coughing and squealing. Piper was about to say a 'I was kidding, calm down' when the girl pulled the salt jar they were looking for out of a drawer and handed it to them.

"Uh, thanks man." They took the jar from her hands, which, they noted, were pleasantly warm."I'll give it back once I'm done with it- I mean, my mum's done with it."

" No rush. Aunt Hecate's next appointment's only tomorrow." The girl said with a hint of a smile on her face. Piper suddenly found herself at a lost for words.

"Well, uh" They mumbled, closing a drawer. "I'll be going, then. Now. I'll be going now."

"I'll see you later."

"Yeah." Piper nodded. "Yeah, you too."

After leaving the witch's house and having Hazel close the door behind her, she was left thinking what the hell had just happened.


	8. Resting is for Nerds

Warning: This chapter contains swearing, mentions of school, family and food.

Wow I really am not happy about this chapter. I had a major writer block so I just half assed my way through this. Sorry about that, hopefully the next chapter will be better.

Still, I think this chapter is necessary for getting to know Reyna's character a bit more, the way that she values school as being more important than anything and all that.

Also! I might not be updating as often but if you want to know what I'm up to and if I'm planning on updating anytime soon you can check me out on twitter prncesscandy.

Man this chapter was a pain to write

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After all the tests, papers and homework they had to deal with, winter vacation was something most students looked forward to. Reyna, however, was able to look through the bullshit. Not only did the teachers assign numerous papers, as so the students wouldn't forget school actually existed, but she also had her family to deal with.

Christmas was about the only time of the year when her whole family was actually together- mostly because they didn't live all in the same country and they couldn't afford airplane tickets every time someone's birthday came around- and it was a complete and absolute mess. Her grandmother and grand aunt would always have big fights over who got to host Christmas that year, there always seemed to be a cousin who owed money to another cousin, and it was always a struggle to remember the names of family members that she only saw once a year. Piper said it was kind of funny, and Reyna agreed, but it was like one of those jokes that got old quickly.

Over the years, she learnt that the best way to avoid family was to study, and so she didn't have to deal with as much fighting and questions about her non existent boyfriend.

When she had a lot of things to do, Reyna found it useful to write them down on a clean sheet of paper to get her mind sorted out. She had already started making one before vacation even started, with "study for maths test" and "geo paper", and now, on the first day of vacation, she was sitting on her bed, trying to recall all that she was supposed to do so that she had an excuse not to participate in the conversations of whether her cousin Julie looked more like her father or like her mother.

After about five minutes, she was done. "Study for everything" was a no brainer, and she had a few small school projects here and there, but other than that she didn't exactly have too much to do. It was only when she set the list down on top of her bedspread that she noticed she had left something important out. She hadn't written "Talk to annabeth."

They had had four conversations so far, the first ones being awkwardly bound to subjects like family and the differences between their countries- those were the main aspects of the paper they were going to have to present, after all- but once they got that over it was much easier to talk. Annabeth was actually nice, and better, she was funny.

Maybe that was why Reyna had forgotten to write that down. Talking to her pen pal didn't feel like a burden, it was just like she was talking to a friend. Hell, maybe they were friends. Were they friends?

She pushed the thought away. The girl had a tendency to overthink otherwise simple things, and though she tried to stop, it was almost impossible- especially when she didn't have her relaxed best friend to tell her to "calm the fuck down and eat a snack or something, you're too uptight." Whether or not she and Annabeth were friends, it didn't matter. Reyna enjoyed talking to her, and most importantly, she had to.

Still, "Talk to annabeth" remained unwritten as Reyna leaped out of her bed to turn her computer on and check if a certain someone was online.


	9. Friendship Isn't So Sweet

Warning: This chapter contains swearing, mentions of family and food.

I managed to get out of my writer's block pretty quickly and this thing came out of my little creative outburst. I'm actually really happy with it.

Writing about friends hanging out is probably my favourite thing ever, it's just really fun.

I'd also like to point out that Nico and Percy aren't related by blood- Thalia is Percy's cousin and Nico is Thalia's cousin- I wanted to make this change so that things wouldn't get weird.

I hope you enjoy this, and bonus points if you can figure out who Percy's pen pal is.

xxxx

Percy loved his mum; She was nice, she was pretty and she didn't get too upset over him completely fucking things up from time to time.

Yes, Sally Jackson was the type of mum everyone of his friends wished they had. They liked her so much, in fact, that it was normal to find them all camping over at his house for a number of hours.

Christmas was no exception, of course, and his mum took advantage of her situation to not have to decorate the house for the holidays. The teenagers were more than happy to do Sally a favour, especially if it meant they got to snack on some of her blue cookies. And so, there they were, hanging out in his living room and trying to set up a fake tree.

"No," Thalia said, squinting. "it's still not completely straight. Try turning it more to the left."

"I can't turn it more to the left." Nico called out from where he was, laying on his back under the said tree trying to make it look presentable. "It won't move."

"I guess you could say you're...left out of options." He commented before chuckling at his own joke.

"Percy," His cousin's cousin hissed. "once I figure out how to get out of here, I am going to punch you."

"No, don't get out of there. We're too close. I'll punch him for you." Thalia offered, before slapping him on the shoulder. "Try turning it to the left again."

Her request was met with a series of complaints from Nico, which were reasonable, seeing as he had been in that position for about half an hour now. The fake tree Sally had bought had sounded like a good idea at the time ("No more vacuuming pine needles off the floor!"), but the top part of it refused to stay up. Percy had suggested using duct tape, but he was dismissed by his cousin, with the guarantee that she'd figure out a way for it to work. Thalia wasn't a pine tree expert last time he had checked, but if her stubbornness meant he got to sit back and eat cookies, he was going to leave her to it.

"You know, if you have nothing to do, you could help us out here." Annabeth told him as she gave him a dirty look.

"I could, couldn't I?" He replied with a smirk.

"Shut up and sit your ass down." Drew said while she pulled a bunch of christmas lights from a box and threw them at him. "Go ahead and untangle these for me, dear."

Annabeth giggled as he sat down next to them and did as Drew told him. The girls busied themselves with unboxing various ornaments. On top of being a great mum, Sally also enjoyed collecting christmas decorations.

"It's done!" His cousin called out after a few minutes. "We did it!"

"Finally." Nico grumbled as he lifted himself from the ground.

"Don't be such a grump, now we can start hanging these!" He announced as he held out the christmas lights. It looked like they were more tangled than they were when they were handed to him.

"No, we can't." Drew stated, as if it was the most obvious thing in the planet. "Those are for decorating the door. These" She pointed at a string of lights sitting right next to her. "are the ones we're going to put on the tree."

"I thought we were going to put the red reindeer balls up first." Annabeth declared.

The other girl shook her head. "The lights go on first, trust me." She handed the said lights to her girlfriend. "Could you hang them up for me?"

As Thalia worked on putting ornaments up and Drew worked on guiding her, the rest of them were left with nothing to do. Once Percy managed to figure out how to untangle the damned things- how they got so tangled in the first place, he had no idea- he sat down on the couch between Annabeth and Nico. The later one was simply watching his cousin and her girlfriend slowly making the tree look good. Annabeth, however had gotten her laptop out. She was on facebook, he noticed, and had a chat window open.

"Talking to Reyna again?" He enquired.

She shook her head. "She's not online. Probably having dinner or something."

"Then why is her chat window open?"

"Stop looking at my stuff!" His best friend argued, pushing her hand onto his face to make a point. "And if you really need to know, she messaged me earlier but I didn't see it."

"What does it say?" Drew asked while inspecting a glass ball filled with paper snowflakes.

"Not you too!"

"Is it really so damn intimate that we can't hear it?" Thalia wondered out loud.

Annabeth sighed. "''I don't know what to get Piper for christmas, though. They're a hard person to shop for.' Are you happy now?"

"Tell her to get Piper the ugliest sweater she can find." Thalia advised. "She told me that's what she's going to give Reyna, as a joke."

"I'm surprised you're even talking to her." Her cousin confessed. "You don't give half a shit about these things, usually."

" Piper knows Jason. I need someone on the inside to get me some dirt on him." She joked.

"You're an evil one, you." Her girlfriend replied.

"If you wanted some dirt on Jason you could've asked me. I'm his pen pal. you know." Nico noted.

"But Jason's got the hots for Piper. It's different." She shrugged.

"My pen pal likes that pony show." Percy blurted out. "He's trying to get me to watch it. It's kind of awkward."

There was a collective laugh. "And here I was thinking that you already watched it." Annabeth joked.

"I'm gonna get you a 'My Little Pony' shirt for christmas." Drew added with a chuckle.

"Fuck you guys." Percy muttered. "I'm gonna get you all socks, watch me."

"I'm gonna get you a thong." Annabeth responded.

"Get us all matching thongs!" Thalia decided. "We'll start a trend."

"Friendship thongs?" Nico wondered.

"Friendship thongs!"

"May I remind you that my mum is right next door?" Percy said, trying not to smile.

"Shit, that's right." Thalia acknowledged. "If she hears us she might steal our idea!"

Percy threw a pillow at his cousin for that. A few minutes later, he was stuck in the same position Nico had been in a few minutes back,trying to turn the tree left, wishing the pillow hadn't knocked over the damn tree.


	10. The Ups And Downs Of Socializing

Warning: This chapter contains swearing, mentions of family, sex(kinda), school and food.

So I've been thinking of choosing a day for me to post a chapter on every week or so instead of posting chapters whenever, so if you guys have any preferences on what day that could be please let me know

I also made this /prncesscandy/through-the-computer-screen bc I'm a nerd and I might be adding more songs and what not but if you want to listen to something while you read well there you go

Reyna is a DORK who doesn't know how to socialize

Do Annabeth and her have crushes on each other yet? who knows man

And no I'll never stop telling you about how much I like Thalia/Drew everybody should get on the Thalia/Drew train

And Piper continues to be the babe bye

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Reyna's stomach was so full she thought it might burst. Piper's sleepovers always seemed to end like this, seeing as they made it so there was always a series of sweets somewhere in their bedroom.

It was the last friday before school started again, and the two of them hadn't been together in a while, with Piper going to her dad's for the holidays and Reyna being buried in school work. The first sleepover they had in over three weeks wasn't anything special, they just did what they usually did- consume too much sugar, try to find something decent to watch, trash talk and go to bed at unreasonable hours.

Piper, at least, had gone to sleep at a half decent hour. They had fallen asleep on top of their best friend's leg at half past midnight while they were watching Cake Boss. She, on the other hand, had stayed up beyond that. She wasn't especially tired, so she chose not to lay down and keep watching tv and snacking on jellybeans. It wasn't until her best friend started to mumble in her sleep and Reyna took out her phone to try to get it on camera that she realized how late it was.

It was almost 2 am, and she had to go back to school the following week, so she reluctantly went to bed, leaving the tv on. She liked the soft glow it emitted, and the quiet sounds coming from it.

She found out soon enough that any sleep that she could possibly have had before disappeared completely once her head hit the pillow. Frowning, she reached for her phone- maybe if she played Angry Birds for enough time she'd pass out- and suddenly, had a brilliant idea.

She should be online, it was only about 9 pm where she was. Still, Reyna found herself biting her lip nervously as she went to facebook. And there was Annabeth's name, with a green ball next to it, indicating that she was, indeed, online.

Reyna Arellano  
You there?

"I'm not getting the-no" Piper murmured in her sleep. Reyna chuckled before lightly tapping her with her elbow. For some reason, that always shut her best friend up in these situations. She turned her attention back to the screen.

Annabeth Chase  
isn't it like 2 there  
shouldn't you be sleeping

Reyna Arellano  
I should but I'm not  
I don't really feel like sleeping

Annabeth Chase  
understandable

Reyna Arellano  
So what are you up to?

Annabeth Chase  
not much we just had dinner  
percy's trying to figure out his biology hw and i was trying to read some comics online  
i couldn't find any good links tho

Reyna Arellano  
That sucks  
Oh by the way Piper loved the sweater I got her  
She actually gave me an ugly Christmas sweater too  
You didn't happen to know this would happen did you

Annabeth Chase  
maybe  
okay thalia told me piper was gonna give you that  
i guess she figured piper would like it

Reyna Arellano  
Well she was right  
They laughed for like 5 minutes when they opened the present

Annabeth Chase  
man they're getting really close aren't they

Reyna Arellano  
… close?

Could it be that Piper and Thalia actually had a thing for each other? She wouldn't be surprised, sure, but she would've expected her best friend to tell her about these types of things. They were, after all, best friends. And it was no secret that Piper was bi.

Her suspicions, however, faded away when she read Annabeth's following message.

Annabeth Chase  
oh ym god reyna no  
not like that i meant like as in friends

Reyna Arellano  
Oh sorry about that

Annabeth Chase  
im laughing so hard  
thalia has a gf you know

Reyna Arellano  
No I did not

Annabeth Chase  
percy says hi btw  
he's asking why im laughing omg

Reyna Arellano  
Tell him I say hi too

Annabeth Chase  
i told him why i was laughing now he's laughing

Reyna tried to hold back a chuckle, as not to disturb Piper.

Annabeth Chase  
sorry about all this but it's just that thalia's kinda the last person who'd cheat on someone

Reyna Arellano  
How long has she been with her girlfriend for?

Annabeth Chase  
almost a year, so not that long  
but they're like the most functional couple i know

Reyna Arellano  
Oh I see  
But you're right I guess  
About them getting closer

Annabeth Chase  
well they're not the only ones right

She almost dropped her phone. She knew Annabeth didn't mean it like- well, like THAT- and it made no sense for Reyna to expect it, after all, they were just friends and nothing else, in fact she wasn't even sure they WERE friends. Were they?

She sighed. One way to find out.

Reyna Arellano  
We're friends right?

A mistake, definitely a mistake.

Annabeth Chase  
of course we are

...or maybe not. Reyna soften her grip she had on the sheets. She hadn't even realized she was holding on to them.

Reyna Arellano  
Just checking

Annabeth Chase  
understandable  
you go back to class on monday too don't you?

She was just about to type her answer when she felt someone breathe on her neck.

"Jesus, Piper!" She jumped and turned to face her best friend's face. There was a grumpy look where a grin was usually found, which was what happened when Piper didn't drink coffee within 2 seconds of waking up.

"'s like, 3 am. Why're you up?"

"I couldn't sleep."

"Yeah okay." They responded. "Why do you look like someone just slapped you?"

She brought a hand to her cheek. "What?"

"You're all red." They threw her a suggestive look. "What have you been doing, exactly?"

"Fuck you, that's what I've been doing." She quickly realized how bad that sounded, but thankfully, Piper was too tired to figure it out. "Go to sleep."

"Pissbaby." They said before laying back down. "Say goodbye to your girlfriend, I can't sleep with you making those weird noises."

"Yeah, yeah." Had she been really making noises? Probably dying of embarrassment noises, but she hadn't noticed that either.

Reyna Arellano  
Piper can't sleep with the lights on so I have to go  
Bye Annabeth

Annabeth Chase  
night reyna  
sleep tight

She set her phone down on the bedside table and covered herself with the blankets before closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep.


	11. Teenager Frustration

Warning: This chapter contains swearing, mentions of food and school.

Man this chapter isn't anything special but did it take me a long time to write oh wow

Also I was planning on setting up a day and updating weekly but maybe my writing schedule is too unstable for that

If you can't tell, Piper is a total babe who gets all the ladies and sometimes all the dudes (tho she prefers ladies who wouldn't)

But she's a giant dork with Hazel bc awkward crushes do that to a person y'know

Kids these days and their homosexual thoughts

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Ever since classes had started again, Piper was making waking up ten minutes before she was supposed to be in the classroom into a nasty habit. It was something they meant to fix, sure, but it was already the second week of school and there they were, shoving a cereal bar in their mouth and trying to pull their pants up at the same time. It wasn't working too well.

She contemplated her options for a bit. She could go out and wait for the bus in the nasty weather (she was about seventy percent sure it was going to rain) and show up to class half an hour late, or, in alternative, she could pretend she was coming down with a fever and stay home playing the sims all day. She was tempted to do the latter, she did, after all, have frozen pizza in the freezer that was just begging to be eaten, but in the end she decided against that. She had a literature project she was going to work on with her partner in the library, and she didn't want to have to reschedule. She'd like to talk as little with that weird Leo kid as she could manage to.

Through some type of miracle, Piper made it out the door in two short minutes, balancing their backpack so the books wouldn't fall and blowing the hair out of their face. It was even a bigger miracle, they thought, that the elevator was already there. They breathed a sigh of relief as they stepped inside it and hoped they'd make it to the bus stop in less than seven minutes.

Just as the elevator doors were closing, Piper almost jumped out of her skin when she heard a high pitched "Hold the elevator!". Now, she wasn't the nicest person, and she didn't especially feel like making small talk that early in the morning. Therefore, she would've ignored the request.

She would've ignored the request if she hadn't recognized that voice.

Hazel thanked them as she entered the small space, her cheeks flustered. Piper had to hold themselves back from grinning at what the girl was wearing. Sure, they saw uniform wearing girls around school all the time (in fact, their best friend was a girl who wore a uniform more often than not), but there was something about the way that Hazel wore hers, with the white shirt buttoned up all the way to the top and the black skirt wrinkle free that made her look different. good kind of different.

"You going to school?" _Shit_. She knew it was a useless thing to say, of course she was going to school, but the silence between them was getting uncomfortable.

"Yes." The girl replied, standing up straighter. "Are you?"

"Nah. I just like leaving my apartment at seven twenty in the morning while wearing my school uniform. It's one of those things, ya know." She immediately regretted the comment after taking one look at Hazel's nervous expression. "That was a joke, sorry. It wasn't a very funny one." She quickly added.

"No, I got it." She assured, despite looking relieved after listening to their explanation. "I'm just a little nervous today, sorry."

"What's up?" They questioned, before considering that may not have been the best thing to do.

Hazel looked at her shoes while she answered in a low voice. "School's not really...fun."

"What do you mean? Do I have to beat someone up?"

The girl shook her head slowly. "No, it's not that. It's just that i'm new, and-"

"Oh, I get it." The elevator had reached their stop, which, they had noticed when she was pressing the button, was also Hazel's. They hopped out and held the door open for the girl. "Listen, kid, you'll make friends eventually. You just have to be patient… and possibly stop worrying so much. It'll happen."

They half expected the girl to ignore them and walk away, but instead she gave Piper a hint of a smile. "Uh, thanks."

Despite feeling like her heart was about to jump out of her mouth, Piper tried to respond as smoothly as she could. "Anytime." She said with a smirk.

"Uh, I'll see you later, I guess." Hazel turned around and opened the main building door, walking outside in the process. She left the door open, which they appreciated.

After realizing they were holding an elevator door with a smirk on their face while looking at thin air, they quickly shut said door and tried to ignore the heat they felt upon their cheeks.

What was _wrong_ with them? They'd had crushes before, but it had been nothing like this. It was like they'd forgotten everything they'd ever learnt about flirting. Maybe it had something to do with not knowing if the girl in question was straight- which she probably was-, leaving Piper with small room to flirt, which was, by the way, one of the only things they_ really_ knew how to do. Reyna joked that they could talk their way into anyone's pants. It was ironic how they were crushing on the one person that nearly made them stutter whenever she looked at them.

"Crap! The bus!" It was with a jump that she remembered she was late and was rushing to get to school on time. How could she have forgotten that, she wondered as she ran outside. Damn that Hazel girl.


	12. Tricky Secrets

Warning: This chapter contains mentions of family, pregnancy, food, medication, transphobia, dysphoria, emotional abuse, panic and anxiety.

MAN this chapter killed me im dead rn

Sorry I haven't been updating a lot but summer vacation means relaxing a bit

If you remember correctly, Annabeth is a trans girl in this fic, and i wanted to represent some of the difficulties of being trans so this chapter happened

Also bury me in platonic percy/annabeth forever

And honestly this chapter can be very triggering read at your own risk please

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She hadn't exactly planned this.

Any of this, to be honest. She never expected Reyna to become more than an acquaintance who she occasionally messaged in order to work a project out. And yet, there she was, considering tell the girl what was probably her biggest secret.

No, not secret. Her biggest let's-not-tell-anyone-that-this-happened-ever-mostly-because-I-can't-think-about-it-without-almost-having-a-panic-attack was more fitting.

She had been thinking about it for a while now, but could never bring herself to actually do it. The last time she had brought all of that up was during a session with the school's therapist, and that hadn't worked out so well. Probably because the woman had never dealt with anything other than anxiety attacks caused by school stress, and then in came Annabeth on the edge of a panic attack because she was triggered by some movie she had been watching with her class she didn't even remember the name of. After that meeting, the therapist had kept a close eye on her, but ever since that she had managed to keep everything under control.

It was almost funny how she was making a serious decision while Percy was sprawled out on the bed snoring. It was barely seven and they hadn't even had dinner yet, but he was going to have a swim meet in a couple of weeks, and his practise schedule had been changed so he'd be able to work more than usual. Besides, he had had a biology test that morning, and Annabeth knew those were sure to drain his energy out. Still, they had studied for that test for a good six hours, and she was certain her best friend was going to have a decent grade at the least. She couldn't help but feel proud.

With a sigh, she turned to her computer screen. It was already past midnight where Reyna was, but the girl had a nasty habit of staying up late, especially on fridays, when she didn't need to wake up early the next day. The two of them had already been talking earlier that day, when they were discussing their favourite movies with each other, so Annabeth figured it would be easier to talk to her. Still, it took her more time than usual to type.

Annabeth Chase  
are you still there?

For a few minutes there was no reply, which lead her to believe that her friend had already fallen asleep and therefore today was not the day she was going to tell her. She felt a mix of relief and sorrow at the thought, but before she could explore that, Reyna messaged her back.

Reyna Arellano  
I can't sleep for a change  
What's up?

Annabeth Chase  
not much, im just hanging out with percy  
who is passed out right next to me

Reyna Arellano  
Can you ask him to teach me how to do that?  
I mean the other day I was up until 2 it wasn't even funny

Annabeth Chase  
jesus reyna shouldn't you take pills or smth for that

Reyna Arellano  
I'm considering starting to take them, but maybe I'll wait to see if this gets better during Summer vacation

Annabeth Chase  
take care of yourself and sleep

Reyna Arellano  
But I'm not sleepy

Annabeth Chase  
how dare you

This wasn't what she meant to do, of course, but at least she felt a bit calmer. She was talking to Reyna, it was just the two of them. Nothing was going to happen. At least she hoped nothing would happen.

Annabeth Chase  
listen  
i want to tell you something that's kinda serious  
are you okay with that?

Reyna Arellano  
I think so  
What do you mean?

Annabeth Chase  
like  
id appreciate it if you didnt tell anyone about this  
not even piper  
its pretty personal okay

Reyna Arellano  
I won't  
Annabeth you're scaring me is everything okay

Annabeth Chase  
no its just that this is a pretty big part of my life and i never told you about it  
and i trust you so i want to tell you  
but im still really bitter abt it so

Reyna Arellano  
Take your time  
I'm right here but if you don't want to tell me that's okay

Annabeth Chase  
thank you

Well, there was no turning back once she sent her next message, but she couldn't just drop the subject. She held her breath before pressing the send button.

Annabeth Chase  
i never told you why it is that i'm living with percy  
you never asked either

Reyna Arellano  
I figured you'd tell me if you wanted to

Annabeth Chase  
some kids in my school used to think it was bc he got me pregnant and i got kicked out or something  
that obviously isnt the case

Reyna Arellano  
They thought what

Annabeth Chase  
thalia threatened to beat them up if they didnt keep their thoughts to themselves dont worry  
but percy and i are only friends  
we've been friends for a long time you know

Reyna Arellano  
You told me about that

Annabeth Chase  
i met him when i was about 11 and still living with my parents  
we all lived around here and i met percy in a summer camp we both went to  
my mother wasnt around when i was little  
my dad got married to another woman and i had two half brothers

She hadn't seen them in ages. Matthew and Bobby had been little kids the last time she'd seen them in person, but in the last Christmas card her father had sent her they were taller, and she spotted a few red highlights in Bobby's hair that matched his mother's, but unlike his mother he just looked silly with the hair colour. She half wished she could meet them again, but besides doubting her dad and stepmother would ever allow that, she wasn't sure the kids themselves would be happy to see her.

Annabeth Chase  
the thing is i was dmab  
you know what that means, right

Reyna Arellano  
Yeah I do

Annabeth Chase  
so yeah that was happening  
i mean when i was younger i thought i was a boy  
but i never really felt like myself but i didnt know why you know  
until i went to camp

She was doing better than she thought she would do; She wasn't crying yet, which was surprising. She was breathing quickly, but that was no surprise, and if she knew herself well enough, it wasn't going to stop anytime soon.

Annabeth Chase  
in camp i met percy and we became friends and did normal camp stuff you know  
and one of the older campers was this girl silena  
she was really pretty and everyone loved her bc she was super nice and everything  
and this one night a bunch of us were hanging out with her next to the campfire and she ended up giving us a talk abt gender and such  
she said her parents thought she was a boy during most of her life but she was really a girl  
so she was trans and i never knew what that was and it was like i finally found what i wanted

Annabeth still remembered that night like it had been yesterday. Percy had been there too, but he remembered those two trickster brothers better. Silena was still doing great, she was working part time in a salon while going to uni, and the Beckendorf kid that had been crushing on her during all their time at camp had finally made his move a few years ago. Now they were engaged, and Silena had made them promise they'd be at the wedding.

That summer camp was one of the only good things that she had had in her childhood.

Annabeth Chase  
at the time i was going to some therapist bc my parents wanted me to get rid of my spider phobia  
and during one of the sessions i told her i wanted to be a girl  
and of course the therapist ran to tell my parents

Reyna Arellano  
Are you serious

Annabeth Chase  
yeah  
of course they told me i couldn't be a girl for a bunch of reasons and they stopped taking me to therapy and that was a pretty low point

That was an understatement, of course. She couldn't count the number of times her father had given her the "biological" talk. They had made sure she knew she was Aaron Chase, and stripped her from any sort of ideas she had to change anything about herself. The fight they had over her hair length still haunted her so much that she refused to cut her now long locks.

Annabeth Chase  
but percys mum sally was worried abt me and i eventually told her and percy what happened  
and sally had just gotten out of a really bad relationship and she and percy werent in the best situation but she made sure i got the help i needed and hooked me up with the therapist that worked at percys school  
which was much better than the one i had before  
meanwhile my dad got a job offer in san francisco and wanted us to move there but i didnt want to leave sally and percy behind  
so they offered me a place to stay at their house  
it took some convincing but eventually my parents gave up and allowed it  
it worked out for both of us  
i got what i wanted and they didn't have to put up with me

The first few weeks at Percy's had been awkward, as she tried to stay out of the way was much as she could. Her father sent Sally enough money for her to support one more child, but still Annabeth couldn't help but feel like a burden. Eventually, they managed to work something out. Sally was able to calm Annabeth down whenever she had a panic attack, Percy was in charge of killing and getting rid of every spider he saw, and Annabeth herself helped around the house in any way she could and helped Percy study. Since they both had dyslexia, it was challenging for both of them, but her best friend got frustrated easily. All her work was worth it, though, when he managed to get his first B on a paper about greek mythology.

Annabeth Chase  
it wasnt that bad i mean my parents sent me letters almost every month and they never touched the trans subject  
but then about two years ago my dysphoria got real bad and i wanted to get breast implants i decided to use my university money my parents had been saving  
i wouldnt have done it if it hadnt gotten to such a bad point  
but ever since that the letters stopped except for the occasional holiday greeting card

The tears finally started rolling down her cheeks. It wasn't that she was sad, in fact she was happy for being where she was now, but it was all too emotional for her not to get like this. On top of that, she didn't know how Reyna would react. Maybe telling her had been a mistake, but it was too tempting. Her best friend was trans, after all, what could go wrong?

_Absolutely everything,_ Annabeth thought, trying to keep herself from sobbing.

Reyna Arellano  
I am so sorry I had no idea  
Look I'm glad you trust me enough to tell me all this and I am so sorry  
I promise I won't tell anyone okay

Annabeth Chase  
thanks

Reyna Arellano  
You're really strong for putting up with all that stuff you know

And that just about did it. Suddenly, she was a sobbing mess, and it didn't take long before Percy woke up with the sound. She would have apologized if she could manage to get the words out of her mouth, but she was choking.

"Hey, wow." He looked funny, with his hair pointing in ten different directions at the same time, and a dazed look that could only men that he had been sleeping until not very long ago. "What's the matter?"

She didn't hesitate on giving him a big hug, which he quickly responded to. "It's- I-Reyna" She tried to explain, tripping over her own words.

"What did Reyna do?"

"N-nothing." She took a long breath. "I just- I told her everything."

"What do you mean you-oh." He realized. "Man, you guys are better friends than I thought."

She chuckled at that. After a few minutes in silence she wasn't crying anymore, and only then did they break their hug.

"You okay?" She nodded at Percy's question. "I'm going to get you some tea. I'll be right back."

She smiled. She was glad she had friends to take care of her, and she and Percy had been so close for so long that she almost never felt like she was getting in the way of anything. That was a good thing.

She turned back to her computer.

Annabeth Chase  
sorry abt that i had a bit of a panic attack

Reyna Arellano  
Are you okay?

Annabeth Chase  
yeah percys getting me tea im fine  
and thanks for listening to me reyna  
it means a lot to me

Reyna Arellano  
It's the least I can do  
If you ever need to talk I'm here you know

Annabeth Chase  
i know  
thank you  
go to sleep you need to rest

Reyna Arellano  
Fine fine  
Bye Annabeth

Annabeth Chase  
goodnight

She moved her laptop to her bedside table and sat up straighter, wiping the tears off her cheeks. She was thankful for Reyna reacting the way she did. It felt nice, knowing she had another friend she could trust like that.

She never planned for any of that to happen. But Percy was right. She and reyna were, in the end, better friends than she thought.


End file.
